poll position -- now that former gop front-runner, herman cain is out of the presidential race, who is surging in our latest survey? pricey pile-up -- a chain-reaction crash of luxury sports cars, that may be one of the most costly on record. and pirates show off their skills in the national walk the plank contest. good morning, i'm aditi roy, those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin this morning with courting cain. now that herman cain's presidential campaign has collapsed, his one-time republican rivals are competing for his support. cain's camp denies reports that he'll back former house speaker and current front-runner newt

gingrich today, in what could be a big endorsement. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more. >> good morning, everyone. to put it in perspective, we're still weeks away from iowa, anything could happen. but for now the latest big poll, which is our poll, shows that nut gingrich has a strong lead. the nbc/marist poll shows that newt gingrich leading iowa with 26%. the apparent beneficiary of tea party conservatives defecting from herman cain, but the party chairman says it's not over. >> i think it will be up to the voters in iowa and new hampshire and florida. >> reporter: mitt romney is in second place with 18% and drawing fire from rick santorum. but still thinks he can win. >> there's no question that he's moved. the question is what's the sincerity of the move. >> michele bachmann is also

hopeful. >> a lot of herman cain supporters have been calling our office and are coming over to our side. >> ron paul is moving up fast, now third with 17%, almost tied with romney. paul calls himself the tortoise in the race. >> we've had the flavors of the month up and down so far in this campaign. i'd like to think of myself of the flavor of the decade. >> with weeks to go, iowa up in the air with a strong leader. but many voters still undecided. also still up in the air, who will get the cain endorsement? perhaps gingrich. all the candidates seem to want it several of them are trying to schedule meetings with him this week, aditi? >> tracie potts reporting. a dozen people are recuperating after revelry turned into ruckus at saturday night's big 12 championship football game between oklahoma state and its rival, the university of oklahoma. nbc's francis coe reports. >> reporter: on saturday, the bedlam series, the rival football game between the

university of oklahoma, and oklahoma state turned into just that -- bedlam. thousands of osu fans poured on to the field to celebrate the win that guaranteed the cowboys the big 12 championship. >> all the staff tried to line up and stop us, but it was like the entire student section. >> i've never been more packed into one area and getting pushed and shoved and all over the place. and people were so excited. >> in all the excitement, as many as a dozen people were injured. one person fell over a wall, plunging 15 feet on to concrete. >> he wouldn't wake up. and people were like surrounding him and trying to get people off of him. the most seriously injured were lifted to an oklahoma city hospital. while others, some suffering from broken bones were hauled away in ambulances. >> i was scared that this guy died. i was terrified and kind of wanted to cry in the middle of all the excitement. >> reporter: revelry for the osu

cowboys ranked third in the nation, marred by a celebration gone out of control. in the nation's capital, more than two dozen occupy d.c. protesters were arrested after refusing to take down what u.s. park police called an unsafe wooden structure. in a park located two blocks from the white house, defiant protesters i ignored a warning from police yesterday morning to dismantle the barn-like structure, built without a permit. by sunday afternoon, officers on horseback had taped off the area and surrounded the two-story structure. a total of 31 people were taken into custody, including six that had to be removed with a cherry-picker. a first look at other news going on around america today, an historic massachusetts home, older than the united states itself is in shambles after an out of control vehicle represented right through it. the car crashed through a wall of the 258-year-old house before coming to a stop inside the living room.

police say the driver will likely be charged. the home was built 23 years ago, before the united states declared independence. a florida highway was briefly transformed into a landing strip. engine trouble forced a pilot to make an emergency landing on interstate 295. fortunately, no injuries were reported. the pilot was able to guide the small plane in without colliding with any vehicles. 'tis the season for a good run. thousands of saint nicks hit the ground running for chicago's third annual santa hustle. each runner was given a free santa hat and beard for the event and all proceeds donated to a charity. and the high seas were held hostage in the florida keys, a band of swashbuckling pirates showed off their athletic prowess at the national walk the bank championship. competitors were judged on their pleas for mercy and costumes. now for a look at the

national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. >> welcome. >> thank you so much. that looked like a lot of fun, people living out their childhood memories. >> i'm sure everyone was sober. in the keys, yeah, right. good morning, everyone, hope you had a wonderful weekend, very interesting things going on in the weather world so far this hasn't been much of a winter for the east coast. it hasn't been much a winter for northern new england, a lot of people wondering where the snow is, we're getting closer to the christmas break and the ski resorts are dying for some colder air. right now all the cold air is bottled up in the middle of the country. in between the warm air on the east coast and the cold air in colorado we have rain-maker in the middle of the nation. it's been raining all weekend long, it's not changing. from little rock to memphis, paducah, indianapolis, louisville, through ohio, southern michigan, carry the umbrella and eventually it's starting to sneak over to buffalo and erie, pennsylvania and eventually towards

pittsburgh. we have flood problems with all the rain. we have flood warnings that are scattered about indiana and the ohio river in mississippi. flash flooding is possible in areas of shreveport. if you're wondering where winter is it's entrenched from the northern plains down through colorado. it's snowing in west texas, from abilene, to lubbock, and new mexico, albuquerque up to santa fe is getting nailed. albuquerque still got some moderate snow and the winter storm warnings covering pretty much the state of new mexico. as we go for a drive, not even that far outside of the dallas-ft. worth area that we're starting to see the change from rain to snow, from midland out through abilene and north, up to wichita falls, you'll see some snowflakes. here's the cold air.

the wind chill this morning is minus 7 here in nebraska. it's the opposite on the east coast. if anything your biggest weather concern is fog this morning, a lot of dense fog in southern new england, down outside of new york city, philadelphia and d.c. so be careful driving with that. there's no wind chill at all for the east coast. so enjoy it, probably a day or two more of this. temperatures, 80s in florida, 70s up through the carolinas, 60s from d.c. new york city near 60. the cold air entrenched, minneapolis to chicago. down in areas of texas today. that's where the transition is. thunderstorms in houston and new orleans, but colder and chilly back in dallas, so aditi, very interesting things going on so far. winter looks to take more of a grip around the country by the weekend. >> we'll brace for it, thank you, bill. all eyes on europe this week. stocks to watch on wall street and even for italian politics, right now things are pretty confused. your first look at this morning's business headlines are straight ahead. coming up, the bcs title game is set, tiger finally wins

and a coach ices his own kicker. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

welcome back to "first look," i'm aditi roy, here's some of the top stories making news this morning. pentagon officials are denying claims by iran that it shot down a u.s. spy drone, which is now in the possession of iran's armed forces. u.s. officials admit the military lst a remote control of the drone as it flew a surveillance mission along the iran/afghanistan border. new satellite images show a iranian missile base was almost completely leveled by an explosion that took place three weeks ago. intelligence officials and missile experts tell "the new york times" that the accidental blast is a major setback for iran's most advanced long-range missile program. russian voters have dealt vladimir putin's ruling party a heavy blow by cutting its parliamentary majority. in an election that indicates

growing unease with his political domination. latest results show putin's united russia struggling to win half the votes. a former miss usa has been arrested on a drunken driving charge near detroit. an attorney for rima fakih whose reign ended in june said she takes full responsibility and wants to apologize to everybody she let down. and police in japan say a 14-car chain-reaction crash smashed eight ferraris, a lamborghini and two mercedes worth a total of $3.8 million. a witness says the luxury car drivers were traveling far beyond the speed limit. bomb disposal experts in germany have defused a 1.8-ton bomb from world war ii. nearly 50,000 people living nearby were evacuated. and sue seville from our english

braf broadcasting partner itn reports for many it brought back painful memories of the war. >> this bomb lay submerged for over 65 years. then low water levels after a dry autumn revealed a deadly war-time legacy. this 1.8-ton british aerial mine, the largest of various unexploded bombs that have recently come to light. defusal experts stacked sandbags around the bomb and began their work. it's very, very dangerous sat said this member of the defusal tomb. but after three years, the bomb was deactivated and a smoke grenade was blown up. >> blockbuster, an american export to germany. >> blockbuster bombs were designed to devastate germany's industry and crush civilian morale. r.a.f. night bombers dropped them in 1944 and 1945, destroying 90% of the city.

some of the more elderly residents in koblentz found it distressing while they waited to return to their homes. half the city was evacuated, including hospitals and the prison, while these munitions were made safe. but how many more still lie submerged, remains unknown. sue seville, itv news. here's a "first look" at wall street. the dow opens at 12,019, after falling less than a point on friday. the s&p was down a fraction, but the nasdaq gained just under one. takinging a look at overseas trade, in toyko, neat kay added 52 points, while in hong kong, the hang seng inched up 139. most wall street traders can't remember the last time they saw a week like this one. the biggest single factor driving stocks daily this week will be news and events in europe. european union leaders will meet to a two-day summit ending friday, from which wall street and the rest of the financial world hope a powerful plan with concrete solutions to stop the

spread of europe's debt crisis emerges. wall street doesn't necessarily expect a new treaty, but a firm blueprint coming out of the summit is seen as a must. today german chancellor, angela merkel meets french president, nicolas sarkozy, to prepare for the summit to try to come up with tougher european rules to allow for an intervention with a member nation's budget becomes unstable. timothy geithner will be meeting with officials throughout europe ahead of the summit. thursday, the european central bank is widely expected to cut rates by .25%. back here at home, friday's job numbers were stellar. unemployment finally fell below the stubborn 9% mark, dipping to 8.6%. watch western digital today, shares spiked friday on company expectations of better quarterly sales. and keep an eye on s.a.p. it announced it's buying success factors for $3.4 billion. the latest move and the

escalating rivalry between s.a.p. and oracle. how confuse reasonable doubt things in italy right now? a canadian professor who left italy 28 years ago was mistakenly named next junior minister for agriculture. don't know how that happens. well who plays who for all the marbles in college football? a huge free agent deal in baseball and the packers remain unbeaten. plus, for the first time in two years, tiger woods tastes victory, your "first look" at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ snoring ] [ thunder crashes ] [ snoring ]

[ thunder crashes ] [ snoring ] [ male announcer ] vicks nyquil cold and flu. the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep you ever got with a cold... medicine. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] vicks dayquil. defeats 5 cold & flu symptoms. ♪ hey, two tickets just opened up on the 50.

...yup, about to go pick them up from will call. so 46 seconds ago. did you guys hear that chapman rolled his ankle? done. get out there. so 12 seconds ago. you guys know how to post videos to facebook? you guys know how to post videos to facebook? you guys hear, someone stole... ...stole the other team's mascot? [ tiger growling ] so 27 seconds ago. [ male announcer ] stay a step aheawith 4g lte. with speeds up to 10x faster than 3g. at&t.

welcome back to "first look," i'm aditi roy in sports, it's not perfect, but until they think of something better, the bcs rankings decide who plays for college football's national championship. here's nbc's fred roggin. >> good morning, the final bcs rankings are out, lsu roo mains number one, taking on second-ranked alabama in the bcs title game. oklahoma state, stanford and oregon round out the top five. nfl, the packers remain perfect, but the giants didn't go down without a fight. trailing by eight, eli manning to hakeem nixon, the end zone, they get the two-point conversion and the game was tied. mason crosby named the game winner as the time expired. the giants made it interesting, but the packers won. tim tebow did it again, rallied the broncos against the vikings, punched in a two-point conversion to tie the game in the fourth. matt parader hit a chip shot for the victory. tebow has doubters but he's 6-1 as a a starter.

it's not every day you see a coach ice his own kicker, that's what jason garrett did. he was worried the cowboys wouldn't get the play off in time, so he called a time-out as dan bailey kicked a 49-yarder for the win. the field goal was waved off and he had to do it again and he missed. on to overtime where the rock's steven hawkings, zig-zagged 52 yards and there's the game-winning score. arizona shocked dallas with a 19-13 win in overtime. cam newton's resumé another record, three touchdowns in one game. the panthers won it 38-19. the miami marlins have signed shortstop jose reyes to a monster six-year $106 million deal. and tiger woods finally won a tournament. made birdies of the final two holes at the chevron world challenge to beat zach johnson

by a stroke. tiger's first win in 26 tournaments, that's your first look at sports, i'm fred roggin. for another quick look at the weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. we're coming off a glorious weekend on the east coast. >> it was way too warm and very unusual in many cases. i spent some time up in northern new england, people were begging me for the snow. it's a very important part of their industry. especially as you head towards the holidays. just isn't any out there. one thing people are telling me when they're walking into work, people giving me some calls is the fog is an issue this morning. so give yourself some extra time. southern new england, tri-state area, new york city, new jersey and the chesapeake, it's a very warm morning, very unusual. temperatures in the 40s and 50s, that's where we should be for daytime highs, not this time of the morning. this is lot of ground moisture out there. coastal connecticut, under a dense fog advisory, all areas near new york city, all of new jersey, philadelphia. down through maryland and delaware and coastal areas of

virginia, that's who's got dense fog to work with as you're heading to work or school. the fog will lift as we go throughout the mid morning. it will be partly cloudy. temperatures still very mild. we're talking mid 50s all the way up to central new england. and back here to the west, some showers are in the forecast. maybe some light rain. erie, buffalo, cleveland, pittsburgh and definitely anywhere through ohio, kentucky and tennessee. tomorrow, is when some of the light rain makes it to the east coast. but it's a storm system is going to weaken, it's not going to be as heavy. we'll expect one more warm day for the east coast. bad weather for flying or traveling, definitely through little rock, memphis, dallas, san antonio and houston. 13 degrees in denver. sooner or later it's going to come this way. but not yet. >> we'll enjoy the nice weather while we have it. who is doing super bowl's halftime show? plus, they're cute, they're cuddly and this weekend, they fizzled at the box office, your

"first look" at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. ♪ it's nice to see you ♪ in my bed ♪ ♪ there are diamonds in her eyes ♪ ♪ ♪ and they sparkle in the night ♪ ♪ when the moment comes alive [ male announcer ] this is your moment. this is zales, the diamond store. take up to an extra 15 percent off storewide now through tuesday.

and with my bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i love 'em even more. i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. that's 1% back on... [ toy robot sounds ] 2% on pumpkin pie. and apple. 3% back on 4 trips to the airport. it's as easy as 1... -2... -3... [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

[ toy robot sounds ]

welcome back too "first look," i'm aditi roy, time now for entertainment news. it was quiet as expected this weekend at the notoriously slow post thanksgiving box office. but much too quiet for one particular film. "the muppets" had been expected by many to finish on top. with anywhere from the high teens to $20 million. but it only managed $ 11 million and second place. it left the door wide open for the "twilight" saga "breaking

dawn" in first. and it's official, madonna will perform in the halftime show in february's super bowl in indianapolis. brooke mueller had a bad weekend, arrested for assaulting a woman in an aspen, colorado bar and police reporthood i found cocaine in her purse. finally last night all washington turned out for the kennedy center honors. paying tribute this year to actress meryl streep, saxophonist sonny rollins, cellist yo-yo ma and neil diamond. >> i could listen to some neil diamond. >> me, too, "september morning"? >> wow, you're a fan. >> i am. i'm aditi roy, and this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned, "way too early" with willie geist starts right now.

newt gingrich continues to pick up steam on the way to the iowa caucuses, just 29 days from now. with new polls showing him leaping ahead in a couple of early states. the question is, can the gingrich campaign that didn't see this burst coming itself organize to hang in for the long nominating haul. it looks like gingrich is bringing in supporters of herman cain, who are now looking for a new man after cain dropped out of the race on saturday. the question is -- would you have had cain's improbable run in any other way, than with a pokemon quote from the candidate. that's what he did. and aaron rodgers breaks the heart of giants fans with game-winning drive that took less than a minute and kept the packers perfect. the question is, will anybody beat these guys? it's "way too early" for this. good morning, i'm willie geist and this is "way too early," the show that was